Despite one or two post-release issues, including a rather damning Watchdog report, FIFA 13 has been a huge success for Electronic Arts, selling millions of copies and earning plenty of critical praise.

With the release of the Wii U and no Pro Evolution Soccer in sight, EA has the perfect opportunity to establish the FIFA franchise as the must-have sports series on Nintendo's new console. Can the Wii U edition of FIFA 13 net in an open goal, or is it one for the blooper reel?

Due to time restraints, FIFA 13 actually shares more in common with FIFA 12 in terms of bare-bones gameplay. It uses last year's game engine, which means that players can expect a fairly robust, if flawed, physics engine, as well as tactical defending and precision dribbling.

Unfortunately, however, it lacks any of the gameplay tweaks from the latest instalment. The brand new first touch techniques are absent, the much-improved attacking AI is nowhere to be found, while FIFA Street-inspired skills and fixes to the physics engine fail to make the cut.

We were big fans of FIFA 12 when it was released, of course, and it remains just as satisfying making a last-ditch tackle or scoring a 30-yard screamer. However, when you've sipped the Crystal that is FIFA 13, everything else tends to taste like supermarket plonk.

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FIFA Ultimate Team, the card-based trading mode, is also conspicuous by its absence. The lack of FIFA's premier multiplayer mode is hugely disappointing, proving especially frustrating now that Nintendo has provided the tools necessary for a smooth online experience.

The game is also missing online extras such as FIFA Football Club and Match Day, the latter of which adjusts player stats based on real-world performances. It all feels at odds with the Miiverse community ethos, eliminating, or at least diminishing, the bond with fellow users.

Limited to Seasons mode and friendlies, it's clear that the Wii U edition can't compete with its Xbox 360 and PS3 counterparts, but its online offerings still represent a huge step forward for Nintendo. The online experience is smooth, reliable and largely good-natured, ensuring that FIFA 13 on the Wii U can at least survive beyond single-player.

The game also features an excellent five-person co-op mode, in which Wii Remote users control the action, while the player with the GamePad acts as a manager. In line with the Wii U's asymmetric gameplay philosophy, the co-op mode offers different ways to enjoy the same game, all the while enabling players with little video game experience to join in the fun. It's a great idea and works a treat.

Proving again that FIFA 13's Wii U debut isn't all about cuts, the development team has introduced a number of novel new ways to use Nintendo's unique controller during a match, the most successful of which streamline in-game tactics.

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Thanks to a handy menu bar on the GamePad screen, players can perform simple one-touch substitutions, change formations and employ new tactics without having to pause games and sift through menu screens. It's far from revolutionary, but it makes for a much more fluid match day experience.

Less successful are passing and shooting additions, however. Reminiscent of PS Vita rear panel shooting, shaking the GamePad transforms the screen into a virtual goal, with users directing shots by tapping the desired spot. Users can also poke teammates to pass the ball and bring up a viewer to direct free-kicks.

While we agree that these additions make sense on paper, they're simply not practical, especially when a striker has limited space and only a split second to shoot. Fortunately, touch controls are optional, and the GamePad, though larger than its contemporaries, works just fine as a regular controller.

Graphically the game is also head and shoulders above previous Nintendo releases, although not quite the improvement on the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions that we were promised. Also, despite the odd frame-rate issue, it appears as though EA has called in the exterminators and eliminated those bugs, although it's still early days yet.

The Wii U edition of FIFA 13 fails to reach the dizzying heights of its PS3 and Xbox 360 counterparts, settling for mid-table mediocrity instead. It is still FIFA, however, and as such, is capable of showing flashes of brilliance, whether netting a top corner scorcher or scraping a last-minute victory during five-player co-op.

Like short-term Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez, the Wii U version of FIFA feels like an interim edition, warming the seat for next year's release.